Support routines used to initialize a processing device, boot an operating system on the processing device and provide ongoing support services for the operating system may become a target for interference and/or corruption by malicious software (e.g., such malware as viruses, worms, etc.). Such support routines may be relied upon to configure aspects of the processing device in preparation for booting and/or running the operating system. Alternatively or additionally, such support routine may be relied upon to provide various security functions, such as encryption for network communications and/or access to secured storage devices.
Various forms of malware may attempt to interfere with and/or corrupt such support routines during such initialization and/or configuration of the processing device so as to be in place to take over the processing device prior to booting the operating system. The intention may be to try to become embedded at a point within a chain of trust that is early enough to defeat various security measures that may be put in place at the time the operating system is booted and/or while the operating system is executed.